


Simple Treasures

by Nimbus_Cloud



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Childhood Friends, M/M, Pirates, Reunions, historical japan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 00:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nimbus_Cloud/pseuds/Nimbus_Cloud
Summary: Tsukkiyama Pirates AU set in feudal Japan!Childhood friends separated as they entered adolescence, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi never imagined they'd meet again on opposite sides of a battle.  Yamaguchi, now a pirate, Tsukishima, now a soldier of the Hosokawa navy... as happy as they are to meet each other again, their sworn loyalties test their friendship and their many other feelings, old and new.





	Simple Treasures

“Tsukkiiiii!!!” A young Yamaguchi cried out in glee, dashing headlong down the beach, kicking off his sandals, and splashing straight into the salty waves.  

“Yamaguchi, slow down!” 

It struck Tsukishima a bit odd that Yamaguchi could be so much faster even though his friend’s legs were confined in a girl’s kimono and his own were free in a  _ jinbei _ .  It could be considered embarrassing, maybe… except that Yamaguchi had been like an excited puppy for months after their parents first began planning this trip.  Tsukishima had been looking forward to it too, but Yamaguchi’s current joy was unparalleled.  He made himself run faster.  

“Ah!” He heard Yamaguchi yelp as the water splashed up against his feet.  “It’s cold!”

Tsukishima hissed as he caught up to the waterline, feeling the chill wash up against his own legs.  It was colder than he would’ve liked, and at a temperature like that, he didn’t want Yamaguchi staying in the water too long.  He was prone to getting sick.  Their first grand adventure to the beach would end on a very sour note if his friend got ill as a result.  

“At least roll up your kimono,” he grumbled, eyeing the soaked linen fabric now clinging to Yamaguchi’s legs.  

“Watch out, Tsukki!” 

“Wh—” was all he could manage before a rush of salty water filled his mouth, Yamaguchi giggling as he splashed away out of reach.  Well two could play at that game.  “Yamaguchi…” 

His freckled friend took one look at Tsukishima’s menacing expression before he bolted as best he could, his legs struggling with his kimono and the dragging water.  Before long, the two were taking turns chasing each other up and down the beach, splashing the other incessantly until they were both drenched head-to-toe and called it a draw.  Though of course there hadn’t been any real way to win.  

Tsukishima plopped down into the shallow water, his legs tired.  But Yamaguchi remained standing beside him, wriggling his toes experimentally and pushing them into the wet sand.  

“It feels funny between my toes,” he giggled before holding up his hands behind his ears.  “And I like the sound.”  

Tsukishima watched Yamaguchi close his eyes to listen to the waves.  Not just the waves, there were the faint cries of distant seabirds, the muffled chattering of their families further upshore.  If he closed his eyes too, he could probably hear it all better, but he liked watching Yamaguchi sway to the beat of the sea.  

“I wanna go out there, Tsukki.”

“Mom told us to stay where they can see us,” Tsukishima reminded him.  Neither of them were strong swimmers yet.  

“I mean on a boat someday.  Sail out there into the open sea and be free… I think I wanna be a sailor when I grow up!” 

Tsukishima smirked as Yamaguchi finally sat down beside him, brushing the dripping bangs out of his eyes.  “Yeah?  Last week you wanted to be a doctor, and before that you wanted to be a swordsman.”  

When Yamaguchi was feeling well, he wanted to be everything in the world.  When he was feeling ill, all he wanted was to be healthy.  Tsukishima much preferred the former; he liked it when Yamaguchi had dreams.  They were always so much more imaginative than his own.  

“I mean it this time!” Yamaguchi pouted.  “Sailors are cool and manly, and they can go anywhere in the world.  Tsukki, we could go to China or Korea or even as far as India!  Don’t you want to see the world, Tsukki?” 

One trip out of the village and now Yamaguchi wanted to see the rest of the wide world, but that was just like him.  The taller boy yawned, examining his now-pruney fingers.  

“Not really.”  

“Tsukkiii…”

“But if you go, I’ll go with you.”  

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi brightened immediately, and Tsukishima turned shyly away from his friend’s smile, looking out at the vast, deep blue.  Honestly, it wasn’t an awful idea.

“Let’s go everywhere, Tsukki!  Together!” 

They linked pinkies and stamped their thumbs, another promise made among the hundreds between them, all promises to last a lifetime.  

 

Not long after their seaside venture, Yamaguchi and his family moved away for reasons neither boy could understand.  Tsukishima watched them go, face impassive even as his friend bawled in the back of the cart that carried him away.

“I’m sorry, Tsukki…” Yamaguchi kept repeating between his sobs, clutching the spear-shaped necklace he wore around his neck.  “I’m sorry… Please don’t forget me…”

Tsukishima’s hand clenched around his ring—made in the shape of a shield to match Yamaguchi’s spear. 

“Kei, it’s okay to cry,” his older brother had urged him.  

He didn’t cry that day.  Instead, something inside of him went…  _ pop _ .  

Followed by a bang.  Followed by an earthquake.  Followed by—

  
Tsukishima groaned as he woke from his dream, glaring through the dark at the other half of the shared room where Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio were hellbent on waking the entire barracks with their bickering.  They’d been his peers during training—loud and insufferable from the start—and despite his many fervent prayers, they eventually ended up all assigned to the same crew.   

Beneath him, Goshiki Tsutomu also stirred awake with a snort.  “Ugh… is it even light out?”

“No,” Tsukishima replied through gritted teeth.  “But we have morning deck duty.”

“Yeah!” Hinata chimed in as he tried with all his might to pull Kageyama from his hammock.  “With plenty of time to get in some sword practice beforehand!”

“Didn’t you get in trouble for that last week?” Goshiki sat up, rubbing at his eyes.  He wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep again anyhow.

“Goldfish have a three-second memory,” Tsukishima recited flatly, remaining steadfastly under his blanket.  They hadn’t gotten in trouble as much for sparring so much as making a mess of everything around them as they had.  “And they have no concept of consequences.” 

“Our swords are confiscated, idiot!” Kageyama seemed mostly not to hear.  

“That’s why I was saying we should just borrow theirs!” Hinata blurted.  

“Hey!” Goshiki was fully awake now.  “I didn’t agree to that!” 

“He wouldn’t be able to use our swords anyway,” Tsukishima yawned, still managing to dole out sleepy, half-taunts.  “We don’t have ones that are  _ wakizashi _ length.” 

“Screw you, Tsukishima!” 

Snapping into a sudden sitting position, Tsukishima hurled his blanket at his shortest roommate—knocking him deftly off his feet—then grabbed his sword and his  _ haori _ .  With a nod at Goshiki and a final glare at Kageyama, he left their cramped quarters and headed above onto the deck and into the open air.  A single whiff of the salty sea breeze was enough to blow the sleepiness from his body, and he took the sudden lucidness and the momentary peace and quiet to remember.   

“Yamaguchi…” he whispered to himself, looking out at the shore.  

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d thought about his childhood (really, his only) friend.  Nervous, sickly little Yamaguchi Tadashi with his unruly hair and freckled cheeks, dressed in girl’s clothes as a child for being born too small and weak.  They’d been together always until the day came that they weren’t, leaving him with nothing but a cheap ring and an inexplicable longing for the sea.  He’d become a sailor like they had promised, but he felt anything but free.  Not free to travel the world and certainly not free to go searching the country for his long-lost friend.  His dream hadn’t been a warm memory, it had been a cruel reminder of the promise he’d made to himself as a child to look for Yamaguchi.  

Behind him, Hinata and Kageyama’s chattering grew nearer, louder, and Tsukishima pushed the memories down and back into the archives where they belonged.  Some promises were just impossible to keep.

 

* * *

 

In the early afternoon, Captain Ushijima called the crew to attention, staring down at them from the upper deck, positioned like an imposing mountain.  Hinata quivered beside him; he’d always been deeply afraid of their captain, but full of admiration too.  He regularly alternated between singing the captain’s praises and wanting to challenge him to a fight.  Tsukishima wished he would just pick one and be done with it.  Preferably the fight.  

“We’re being deployed tomorrow,” the Captain addressed them with a clear, booming voice.  “Our crew and two other ships will sail down around the northern shore to patrol the sea around Fukuoka and the port there.  They’re expecting an incoming convoy of Portuguese trading ships, and our mission is to see them to safe harbor, unhindered by pirates.  We set sail at dawn.  That’ll be all; you’re dismissed.”

“Ooh, pirates!  I hope we get to fight some!” Hinata mimicked swinging a sword through the air and Kageyama smacked his hands down.  

“It’s not a game, idiot!  If we get into a battle with pirates, people could die.”  

“And more than likely, you’ll be one of the first,” Tsukishima drawled.

“You know, just because I’m short doesn’t mean I can’t become a great swordsman!” Hinata bit back, standing as tall as he could.  “I’ll defeat anyone who stands in my way—even you— and maybe one day I’ll even serve right under the Shogun!” 

“Kill all the pirates you want, that’s not how the world works,” Tsukishima rolled his eyes.  

“Right you are, Tall-Pale-and-Moody!” A cheery but slightly sinister voice startled them all as the Captain’s First Mate, Tendou Satori, shoved his way into their conversation.  With an overly meaningful waggle of his eyebrows, he leered down at Hinata.  “Remember little one, your loyalty is best given to the lord who _ pays _ you.”  

“Captain... Ushiji...ma?” Hinata and Kageyama both made a face as they said the name, knowing even as they said it that their answer wasn’t quite right.  

“Hosokawa Katsumoto,” Tsukishima sighed.

“He’s not the Shogun?”

“Well, nobody’s paying you boys to be smart, I suppose,” cackled Tendou.  “Hosokawa-dono is one of the richest  _ daimyo _ in Japan.  And he’s the one that pays for this ship, not the almighty Shogun.”  

Tsukishima began tuning out of the conversation then, bored of the petty politics under which they lived and served and in no mood to try and educate the idiot duo in the country’s politics.  Unlike Hinata, he had no delusions about being part of some noble, centralized military that served the public’s interest.  They were little more than hired soldiers under a man that served the Shogun to serve his own needs.  The truth was that after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the shogunate had lost more and more power with each following succession, and the holy Emperor above it all held no power whatsoever.  If Hosokawa Katsumoto decided next week that he’d overthrow the current Shogun to take control of the country for himself, they’d all be made to take up arms for that cause for better or for worse.  

He didn’t care about any of it.  Not duty, not loyalty… he wouldn’t risk his life if he could help it—he just wanted to be out on the open sea.  

 

After a day and a half’s sail, their small fleet reached the port at Fukuoka, and after a brief dock and resupply, they began their patrols of the bay.  For two days, they sailed ships in and out of the harbor, swapping reports of ship sightings and familiarizing themselves with the waters.  ‘Uneventful’ was the official term, ‘boring’ was the word circulated among the crew.  

But that would never deter Hinata and Kageyama, who sparred as often as they could, their swords returned to them now that they were on active duty.  Tsukishima watched them from time to time on-deck, scoffing at how they continuously over-exerted themselves. 

“If and when pirates do attack us, they’ll be too tired from fighting each other.” 

But Goshiki beside him was eyeing them enviously and said, “But it’s good to keep your skills sharp.  I don’t actually think it’s an entirely bad idea… I could probably use a little practice myself—”

“Don’t look at me.”  An immediate shut-down.  

“Why  _ did _ you become a soldier anyway?” Goshiki was pouting now.  “It doesn’t seem to suit you at all.”

“I didn’t want to be a soldier, I wanted—” 

“Ship off the port bow!” 

The watchmen called out above them just as a warning arrow flew whizzing through the air to embed itself in the wood at Tsukishima’s feet.  

“Pirates!!” Tendou called out as dozens of men began shouting and rushing on and off the deck to grab bows and arrows and swords.  “Brace yourselves, boys!!!” 

The Captain appeared on deck just as nerves began settling into the crew—a quarter of them were new recruits, green around the ears and suddenly all very pale.  But their captain was a picture of steely-eyed calm, the unnerving sort just before a storm.  

“Steady!” Captain Ushijima called out, raising an arm to the sky.  “Arrows at the ready; Helmsman, steer toward impact!” 

Tsukishima pulled his bow taut with shaking fingers, glancing at Kageyama beside him, who held his arrow with an almost tranquility, eyes focused straight ahead.  As much as he matched Hinata’s stupidity when without a weapon in his hands, Tsukishima was behooved to remember that Kageyama had been the top student during their training in both skill and stamina.  Hours of sparring hadn’t left him tired at all.  

“When I give the order, fire, then brace for impact and boarding!” 

The two ships drew nearer and nearer, and Tsukishima hissed from the anticipation.  Seamen were just swordsmen who knew how to work a rigging and tie knots.  The tactics of a sea battle were no different to those on land.  In the end, it ultimately came down to sword-slinging… just on a boat.  

When the ships were so close a volley seemed almost pointless, the Captain bellowed, “Fire!!!”

Tsukishima released his arrow, knowing it would hit absolutely nothing, while all around him, men fell screaming down onto the deck, pierced by the return volley of arrows.  A few were lucky enough to die instantly, the others would lose arms and legs if they survived, and some would simply bleed out slowly and painfully over the course of the battle.  Tsukishima scanned the deck, searching until he found Hinata and Kageyama unharmed, swords drawn and side-by-side.  Right, his sword, he needed to draw his sword— 

“Hold on!!” 

Tendou’s voice rang out above the din, a split second before the world shook under their feet and the thunderous clap of shattering wood deafened their ears.  Tsukishima lost his footing and fell onto the deck as men began shouting and rushing toward the collision, a rush of bodies boarding the opposite ship.  

Back during his training, he’d once been praised by his sword instructor for his clean and impeccable form, but Tsukishima was damned if he could see any use for ‘form’ in this current chaos.  Scrambling to his feet, he drew his sword just in time to parry an enemy.  But the rocking ships made it difficult to keep his footing.  After the initial impact, there had been a moment of stillness, but now the ships were groaning as they slowly pushed off each other.  The mangled wood between the vessels caught and snagged and the ‘ground’ lurched, sending all men aboard stumbling for balance.   

Tsukishima slipped and fell backward just as his enemy was about to run him through.  Then a sudden blur of orange ran past his field of vision, and the man was dead, heart stopped before his brain had registered it.    

Hinata wrenched his sword free from the body and held out a hand to help him up.  “Tsukishima!  You all right?!”

Wordlessly, Tsukishima nodded once, struggling to keep his breakfast down.  In the next instant, Hinata was off again, lightning fast and deadly.  Small and swift and unexpectedly decisive, he made a better assassin than a soldier.  

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself to return to the carnage and found himself suddenly face-to-face with a tall, broad man wielding a long, blood-stained spear.  The eyepatch and scars screamed of someone who’d spent his entire life as a pirate, his dark skin freckled from long hours in the sun.  The man tilted his head as he examined Tsukishima, likely sizing him up for their fight.  

Tsukishima swung out his sword with a cry, but his move was easily read and parried.  The difference in their skill was obvious—he was about to die.  In his mind’s eye, he remembered Yamaguchi’s smile from that day on the beach.  

“Reinforcements!” 

Several voices shouted all at once across both ships as a third vessel came into view among the waves.  As the cheers went up among the Hosokawa soldiers, the pirates began to immediately retreat.  They lowered their sails, catching a fortuitous wind, and the two ships began to pull apart.  

Tsukishima’s assailant turned and gave him another queer look, as if considering something… then he pulled sharply at the chain he wore around his neck and tossed it at him.  Tsukishima caught the necklace on reflex; the man withdrew and vanished with his comrades, and as suddenly as the battle had begun, it was over.  The supporting ship attempted to give chase, but the pirates’ ship was faster and was soon out of sight.  

Men all around him shouted, celebrating their meager victory as they thrust their swords into the sky.  In the corner of his eye, Tsukishima could see Hinata jump on Kageyama’s back in jubilee.  It was a delight he could not share.  

With trembling hands, he glanced down instead at what the pirate had left behind for him.  Seeing the tarnished, spear-shaped pendant in his palm, Tsukishima’s legs gave out from under him, and he dropped his sword with a shuddering gasp.  

It couldn’t be… Yamaguchi?!

 

* * *

  
  


“Go away, Hinata,” Tsukishima said quietly—not a hint of his usual hostility—as he kept his eyes forward out at the sea.  

Hinata yelped in surprise.  “How’d you know it was me?”

“It’s always you.  And you suck at sneaking up on people.” 

“Yeah, well,” he plopped down next to Tsukishima in the sand.  “Snuck up on that guy well enough to save your ass!”

Hinata puffed out his chest, and Tsukishima felt suddenly and genuinely  _ chastened _ .  In exchange for his constant teasing and put-downs, Hinata had saved his life.  Dropping his head, he mumbled, “...thanks.” 

“Well, we are the same crew, “ Hinata coughed.  Sincerity from Tsukishima was too much for either of them to handle.  “Even if you are a dick most of the time, I’d… I’dhatetoseeyougetkilled!”

Tsukishima bit his lip, fingering the charm he held in his hand.  Yamaguchi might have been his one and only friend, but Hinata was becoming something oddly close to a comrade.  

His mind drifted back to the earlier skirmish, as it had done all day.  Had that pirate spared him because he knew him?  Could that really have been Yamaguchi?  Now so tall and strong and nothing like the sickly boy he remembered?  The eyepatch made it difficult to really recall the man’s face.  

“Hey… did you know that guy?” Hinata ventured, never knowing when to shut up and not to ask questions.  “That guy with the eyepatch?”  

When Tsukishima said nothing, Hinata pressed on.  “I thought I saw him give you something before he took off.  I thought maybe you guys knew each other or—”

Tsukishima stood abruptly.  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

From further upshore, Kageyama approached them, shooting Tsukishima a suspicious glare before addressing mostly Hinata.  “We’re stuck on shore leave—the injured among us need treatment and our ship needs repairs obviously.  Tendou-san says the Captain’s called for reinforcements—more ships and artillery.”  

“Uwohh!  So next time we’ll take them down for sure!”  Hinata scrambled to his feet, patting Tsukishima on the back before dashing past Kageyama.  “Race you back to the inn!” 

“Wh—Hinata, you cheat!!!  Get back here!!!”

And then they were off again, leaving Tsukishima alone again on the beach with his questions to keep him company.

 

He wasn’t content to simply leave the questions without answers, however, and decided to take the shore leave opportunity to wander around the port, asking questions of the locals.  So long as he carried himself with an air of importance and flashed the sword on his hip, most of the people were quite happy to provide him information.  Especially since it turned out they didn’t particularly much mind their local pirate band.  

Apparently, they only raided foreign trading ships and passed over the coastal villages.  When they behaved more like standard pirates and asked for tribute in exchange for protective services, it was only occasionally and with minimal fuss.  When coming ashore to eat and drink and sleep, the brigands paid what was due and rarely instigated further trouble.  It was beyond anything Tsukishima had expected—a friendly, genial relationship between thieves and their victims.  Friendly enough for them to frequent certain favorite sake houses and inns.   

If the toothless old fisherman selling crabs in the market could be believed, there were two from that crew that came ashore more often than the others.  One was a short, quiet man who looked nothing like a pirate and could probably do a better job blending in as a civilian were it not for his companion—tall with perpetual bedhead for hair, a pair of swords on his hip and a leery, cat-eyed grin.  

“The type you expect trouble from, but the truth is, he’s a rather pleasant fellow,” had been the description.  

Tsukishima took all their praises with a heaping grain of salt; At the end of the day, they were all still pirates and made their livelihoods by breaking the law.  

Although he asked for as much information as he could about the man with the eyepatch, he was rarely seen in-town and no-one knew much of anything about him.  Perhaps the eyepatch made him too conspicuous to go into town.

Thankfully, the pair he’d been recommended were still exceptionally easy to pick out of a crowd, thanks entirely to the wild bedhead of the taller between the two.  He had been walking through the main market street, feeling a bit peckish when he’d caught sight of them.  The smaller man’s attention was fixated on the kites flying above the merchants’ stalls, with his taller friend lazily eating a rice ball as he kept his free hand clamped on his companion’s shoulder to guide him through the crowd.  The more he stared at them, the more normal they looked.  But however docile their reputation, Tsukishima could see with a single glance that the taller man was still a seasoned warrior, and he’d stand no chance against him in a fair fight.  

Ignoring his hunger, he trailed after them while keeping a safe distance.  After the battle on the ship, Tsukishima was feeling anything but confrontational and opted instead for quiet surveillance.  If he could just follow them back to wherever they were docked, maybe he could catch another glimpse of that sailor with an eyepatch, perhaps even learn his name… Not that he knew what he’d do if it turned out to actually be Yamaguchi, but the first step was knowing.  After that, he’d—

“Tsukishima!”  

He whirled around to find Hinata and Kageyama and Goshiki, dressed casually (not even their swords in sight) and stuffing their faces with  _ mitarashi dango _ .  Enjoying themselves.  With rotten timing.  He turned away from them, but his targets had vanished out of the crowd.  Maybe they’d ducked into a shop or a side road?  

“Shit!” he hissed to himself, before running down the road.  

Brushed off without so much as a snide quip, Hinata turned to the other two and shrugged, “Maybe he really needed a bathroom…?” 

 

Tsukishima turned randomly off the main road after he’d cleared the densest bustle of people, found it an empty dead-end, backtracked, then tried a different narrow through-street, following it to the edge of a farm.  He’d lost them.  

He kicked at the dirt at his feet, cursing silently before he slowly made his way back to the main road, resolving to try his luck at the inn he’d received a tip about.  As he rounded the last corner, he felt a strong grip grab his right wrist, twisting it roughly up and behind him, the sharp edge of a dagger suddenly pressed against his throat.  Tsukishima tested the hold only briefly—he was not strong enough to overpower his captor.  

“Shh.. best not to struggle,” a low voice whispered into his ear.  

A smaller man appeared in Tsukishima’s field of vision then, the smaller of the two men he’d been tracking.  Tsukishima scowled inwardly—he’d been careless.  He wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that one of the locals had tipped them off to his inquiries. 

“You were following us.”  It wasn’t a question.  The stranger looked Tsukishima carefully up and down, and Tsukishima felt as though that gaze was dissecting him, observing things that could not be seen.

“Trying to spy on us and figure out where our ship is docked?”  The man that held him pulled more strength into his grip, and Tsukishima grunted and bit his lip, refusing to cry out.  

“You’re wrong!” he gasped.

“But you  _ are  _ one of the soldiers,” the smaller man tipped his head slightly, eyes narrowing.  

Tsukishima took a cautious breath.  “I am, but… I just want to talk.”  

With agonizing slowness, he held out his unbound left hand, promising no foul play before reaching into the pouch at his hip to pull out the necklace.  As soon as they glimpsed it, their tension gave way to shock.  

“That’s—”

_ They recognize it.  _  “I’m looking for Yamaguchi.  He’s…” Tsukishima swallowed.  “He’s my friend.”

“Kuro…” Eyes shifted from the pendant to his companion, and the two shared a long, unspoken conversation as Tsukishima held his breath.  

“I just want to talk to him,” Tsukishima repeated as he felt the blade pull away from his skin.  “Please.” 

He felt the man behind him—Kuro?—shift nervously, still suspicious, but the man in front of him simply nodded once, apparently making up both their minds.  A second later, the butt of the dagger collided with the back of his head, and everything went black.  

 

* * *

 

When Tsukishima eventually jerked back to consciousness, he groaned and immediately re-closed his eyes.  They weren’t ready to see light just yet, no matter how dim, and his head was throbbing.  Slowly, one by one, his senses came back to him through the pain.  By the smell and the sound, he realized he wasn’t in the town anymore but somewhere near the sea.  He lay on a bed of damp rock, and all around him the waves crashed and echoed against… cliffs?  Slowly, he tried to open his eyes again and moved to sit up.  It was only then that he realized his wrists and ankles had been bound and his sword was missing.  His glasses were askew, but he couldn’t fix them with his hands tied behind his back.    

“Ow…” 

Beside him, the two men who’d taken him captive in the alleyway paused their chatter, and the one named ‘Kuro’ called out, “Oyy!  He’s awake!”  

Tsukishima felt ‘awake’ was quite the overstatement for his condition and he pinched his eyes shut again, hoping it would help against the headache.  When he hesitantly opened them again, he was staring into the eye of the man from the ship.  And at this distance, it was only too obvious.

“Yamaguchi…”

“Tsukki…” he whispered.  “It really is you…”

They stared at each other in long disbelief, then Yamaguchi fumbled with his belt briefly before pulling out a dagger to cut his bonds.  

“Captain told us not to do that,” Kuroo chimed in though he made no moves to stop them.

“Tsukki is my friend, he won’t hurt us,” Yamaguchi said sharply.  “I’m sorry.  Kuroo-san, Kenma-san, could you please give us a minute alone?”

The two looked warily at the other until eventually Kenma shrugged his shoulders and left, Kuroo following behind with a last smirk thrown their way.  No doubt he’d noticed the nickname.

“Thanks,” Tsukishima mumbled, rubbing at his bruised wrists and straightening his glasses.  “You—what happened to you?” 

“The eye, you mean?” Yamaguchi gingerly touched his eye patch as he settled down beside him.  “Smallpox.  Not that exciting, but—”

“I meant more the piracy.  And the…” He wasn’t quite sure how to phrase the second part.  The height, the physique… how did one go about asking an old friend when they managed to get so cool?  And  _ handsome _ ?  The thought alone made him blush, and he coughed nervously.  

Yamaguchi’s face darkened at the accusatory tone and his eyes fell downward.  “Piracy… You know, they gave me your sword.  After they brought you here.  It’s surprisingly well-made, but I guess it’s not that strange for Hosokawa soldiers to be well-equipped.”

“Yamaguchi, what are you—”

“Do you like fighting under his banner?”  

Tsukishima sighed.  This wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have.  “I’ve never even seen his face, why are you asking me about—”

“But you don’t mind it.  Ultimately.”  Yamaguchi grimaced.  “And that’s great for you.  But not every  _ daimyo _ provides properly for his soldiers and subjects.  Some petty lords tax peasants for everything they have, and some hired samurai are nothing more than bullies.  Mercenaries.”

Tsukishima had never heard Yamaguchi sound so… cynical.  He shifted uncomfortably and tried to draw the conversation away from himself and his station.  “What about your parents?” 

Yamaguchi’s expression somehow managed to reveal pain and relief in equal measure.  “Dad lost everything and mom got sick.  We tried to do everything like lawful citizens but… eventually we had to resort to other measures, and if we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have survived.”  

“But piracy, Yamaguchi?”  

Tsukishima understood that he’d rarely been made to face some of the world’s most excruciating difficulties; yes, he’d been fortunate in his life.  He didn’t mean to be insensitive, but when he considered an average pirate’s reputation… Raiding villages, killing and raping innocents, it wasn’t just simple thievery, ordinary people faced very real suffering at the hands of such brigands.  No matter how strong and independent Yamaguchi had become, Tsukishima didn’t want to believe he had also become _ cruel _ .  

But Yamaguchi simply gave him a wry smile.  “These guys took me in after mom and dad died.  They caught me trying to steal food from their ship and decided I was recruitment material.  Look, I can’t say that we’re good people, but we’re not as awful as you think.”  

Tsukishima recalled the lives lost the other day out on the sea and his own near-death experience had Hinata not come to his rescue.  He bit his lip as he remembered that there had been blood on Yamaguchi’s spear when they had faced each other, which meant his friend had very likely killed someone in his crew just moments before.  

“Your crew killed my comrades,” Tsukishima mumbled, retorting more out of principle rather than grief.  He hadn’t known any of the men who’d died.

“And your comrades killed my crew,” Yamaguchi replied quietly, his grief evident.  He’d likely lost a few friends in that awful exchange.

They were sitting beside each other, shoulders touching, the closest they’d been in years.  And yet there was a horrible wall between them, keeping them from reaching the other.

“Yamaguchi…” Tsukishima lowered his voice, leaning close.  “Come with me.  You don’t have to keep doing this, I can take you home and—” 

“And what?  I’ll be your bride?” Yamaguchi scoffed even as he smiled.  “Like you promised when we were five?” 

Tsukishima choked.  It wasn’t a promise he’d forgotten, but it was one he’d made without realizing any of its implications.  Really, he could hardly be blamed for his phrasing at that age, and obviously neither of them had known then that Yamaguchi would eventually grow up to be the more imposing man between the two, even if Tsukishima still managed to be taller.  

“Tsukki, I have my pride.  Even if you can’t understand it, this is my life.  This is the life I chose.”

Try as he might, he had no response to that, and as he struggled in silence with his thoughts, Yamaguchi’s crew returned to join them—Kuroo and Kenma bringing two others in tow.  

“Captain…” Yamaguchi turned to face them, and Tsukishima’s eyes moved to the intimidating man with spiky black hair.  He seemed to have a permanent crease between his brows and no shortage of sharp knives about his waist.  

“Hey!  Eyes over here, pretty boy,” snapped the second man, the one with wavy, brown hair and long eyelashes.  Tsukishima bristled at the term of address given that the speaker was positively preening.  “Yeah, _ I’m _ the captain here—why do they _ always _ look at Iwa-chan first—and you owe me an explanation.”

Tsukishima scowled—he disliked the captain more than he disliked the one who had held a knife to his throat—but Yamaguchi intervened immediately.

“Captain, this is my friend, Tsukishima Kei.  We grew up together back in Tanba before my family moved away and—”

“Yes Yamaguchi, I’m sure that’s all very interesting, but what I want to know is not the sad history of your friendship and more why we have a  _ soldier _ here in our hideout?”  

When he received nothing but guilty, shifty looks exchanged between his crew, he growled and pointed at the soldier in question.  “You!  Can’t you speak?  Or are you just gonna sit there gaping like an idiot?”  

“He just wanted to talk to me.”  

If anyone wasn’t letting him speak, it was Yamaguchi.  Tsukishima for his part, had plenty of things he would’ve liked to say, though they all threatened the loss of his head.  

“Just to talk, catch up… I’ll take him back—”

The burly, dour-faced not-captain put his hand on a sword at that, and the captain pulled himself up to his full height.  When he wasn’t posturing, he was actually quite tall.  “He’s not going anywhere.  He’ll tell his fellow soldiers where we are; he’ll sell you out, Yamaguchi.  We’re better of killing him now.”

“No!” 

Tsukishima braced himself to grab Yamaguchi and run, eyes darting around frantically for potential avenues of escape.  He would’ve scoffed as he recalled the phrase ‘honor among thieves,’ but more than one voice suddenly began speaking out in their defense.  

“Captain, we’re the ones who brought the guy,” Kuroo sighed, scratching his head.  “He wasn’t exactly a threat.”

An insult wrapped into a character witness, Tsukishima mused.  They were off to a great start.  

“Pretty sure all he cares about is Yamaguchi,” Kenma added quietly.  “He sounded pretty desperate when we found him, and… his friends were close nearby.  If he wanted to outnumber us just to get information, he could’ve easily called for help.”  

“Oikawa,” the last of them spoke, revealing the pirate captain’s name at last.  “Just take him prisoner.”

“Why should I?” he huffed.

“Because if you kill him, Yamaguchi will kill you, and then I’ll have to kill Yamaguchi.”

It was only then that any of them realized that Yamaguchi had been positioning himself tentatively to strike, hand on his dagger and protectively shielding his friend with his body.  His eyes were blazing, a look that the others had seen only rarely and one which Tsukishima had never seen at all.  

With a dramatic sigh, the captain raised his hands and bowed out of the fight.  He was no longer in the mood to argue, and only slightly less in the mood to die.  

“I still think he’s a danger to us, but if you wanna keep him as a pet so badly, fine.”  He pointed at Yamaguchi.  “He’s your responsibility, and if he does anything to jeopardize our safety, be it on your head.”

And as the captain stormed off, the others followed, apparently unperturbed by the recent string of death threats slung between their crew members.  Kenma stayed behind a little, leaving them one final note regarding night watch rotations.  Yamaguchi had been assigned the dawn shift, to which he whined.

“Ughhh, I’m being punished.”

The blond felt his lips quirk upward.  “You’re still bad at getting up in the mornings?”

“Some things never change,” Yamaguchi shrugged.

Tsukishima wondered about that.  Currently he could count on one hand the number of things that hadn’t changed where the list of things that had stretched as far as the horizon.  After so many years apart, he was brimming with curiosity to know more about this older Yamaguchi, but his curiosity was also intimately coupled with fear.  Fear that the knowledge he’d gain would only drive them apart again, this time for good.  Physical distance was easy to close, but polarized philosophical differences would create an emotional distance deeper than the sea.  

“You do realize,” Yamaguchi smirked—something Tsukishima had never known Yamaguchi to be capable of—and added, “If I have to suffer the dawn shift, you’re suffering it with me.” 

Tsukishima groaned as he remembered that he too was terrible with mornings.  

 

* * *

 

  
  


Calling it the ‘dawn shift’ was an act of brutal deception, in truth.  The foolish hopeful would imagine that the shift starts at dawn in accordance with its name, which wouldn’t be quite so bad.  After all, there’s light to help one rise at dawn.  But the cruel reality was that one was forced awake a couple of hours before dawn, during the coldest, darkest time of night with no natural assistance to one’s circadian rhythm.  Too early an hour to rise, too late an hour to stay up… it would inspire a homicidal mood in anyone.  Too much so when the person to wake Tsukishima was the same person who’d knocked him unconscious the day before.  

“Now there’s a scary look,” Kuroo chuckled as he ripped the blanket away with a flourish.  “Could’ve used that ferocity yesterday.” 

Tsukishima had half a mind to use that aforementioned ferocity now to get his revenge then claim sleepy delirium later when questioned.  Sleep-walking, sleep-stabbing, what was the difference really?

Beside him, Yamaguchi groaned lightly and rolled over as Kenma poked his shoulder repetitively and annoyingly to make him rise.  His tactic was annoyance not force.

“Ngghhmmbfm…” Yamaguchi managed before finally sitting up and rubbing at the sleep in his eyes.

As he pulled on his eyepatch and rolled over and out of his cot, Kenma slipped into it, better to pass out in someone’s pre-warmed bed than the floor.  Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, but no one else did.  And after a few more minutes of sleep-addled sandal-lacing, the two stumbled out onto the deck, leaving Kuroo and Kenma to fall back asleep in Yamaguchi’s bed.

“Are they…?” Tsukishima ventured when they were out of earshot.

“Always joined at the hip?” Yamaguchi finished for him with a yawn.  “Worse.  They’re that annoying couple that always finishes each other’s sentences when speaking, and when not speaking, they have entire conversations about you just staring at each other.” 

Tsukishima already had some experience with the near-telepathy.  “They sound insufferable.”

“They’re adorable,” Yamaguchi supplemented as he grabbed a telescope and led them off the ship and out of the rocky cavern.  

Stumbling over the wet pebbly shore as they climbed up a steep hill for a better vantage point, Tsukishima wondered about the affection he’d just heard in Yamaguchi’s voice.  If he dared hazard a guess, he’d figure that perhaps Kuroo and Kenma were the two people most dear to Yamaguchi on that entire boat.  His new best friends.  

“What does Kenma do?” 

“He’s the ship’s navigator.”  They slowed their pace slightly as they neared the top of the cliffside hill, pausing to squint in all directions in the dark before surfacing completely.  “Why do you ask?”

“Because he looks nothing like a sailor, let alone a pirate,” Tsukishima shrugged.  

“I think people might argue you don’t look much like a sailor either, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi laughed.  “So why are you?” 

Tsukishima sighed dramatically as he looked out over the cliff’s edge at the inky black sea and the surrounding kilometers of hazy shoreline.  Still some time left before sunrise, but the far horizon behind them was already brighter than the sea ahead.  Eventually he said, “Because of a stupid promise I made after one fun day at the beach.”  

Beside him, Yamaguchi sniggered, hand to his mouth to keep from full-on laughing.  Well whatever his personal shortcomings, at least he could still make Yamaguchi laugh.  He’d nearly forgotten the feeling, and now was the best he’d felt in years even with the ridiculous time of day.  

“Do you remember that shiba that the Wada family had?” 

“Like I could forget Hana-chan?” Yamaguchi grinned.  “I remember that dog better than half my childhood.”  

“She had puppies the year after you left.”

“That had to have been adorable, I’m sure.” 

“They let me name one of them,” Tsukishima half-gloated.

“Yeah?  What’d you name it?” Yamaguchi wasn’t rising to the bait.  

“I forgot,” Tsukishima lied.  He’d named the runt of that litter Tadashi and snuck it treats far more often than he strictly should have.  

Yamaguchi gave him a long stare—he could probably tell Tsukishima was lying—but didn’t press the issue.  Instead he offered his own little history.  

“You remember Iwaizumi-san?  Big, scary-looking guy that was with the Captain that you thought was the Captain?  He was the one who taught me how to fight.  He spars with everyone to keep us sharp.”  

“And you were the one who picked the spear?” 

“Captain said I had to learn bow and arrow first.  It’s more useful.  But after that, I was allowed to train with a spear as much as I wanted.  Our cook—Shimada-san—taught me the basics.”  

On and on they went, taking turns sharing stories of their lives to fill in the gaps of a life they had meant to share.  Tsukishima felt he had very little to offer for Yamaguchi’s adventures.  While his dear friend had struggled to survive, pushed to his limits and forced to learn about himself and his capabilities, much of Tsukishima’s life had been stagnant, caught in a strange, liminal space.  He had been unchanged and unchanging until Akiteru enlisted into service under the Hosokawa banner and reminded him that there were seafaring opportunities to be had for soldiers too.  So he’d put one foot in front of the other, following a natural progression with no surprises… until a few days ago.  Now the sun was rising on a day he had no means of predicting, and the brightest thing in sight was Yamaguchi beside him.  

“I hate getting up for the dawn watch,” Yamaguchi repeated his sentiments from the day before.  “But I still always like the sunrises.”  

Tsukishima would be willing to give up the sun rising for the rest of his life, if he could just have this one moment between them preserved forever.  But it was Yamaguchi who pulled away first.

“Time to go wake the morning crew!” 

  
  


It turned out a ship’s routine wasn’t all that different between pirates and soldiers.  The same hustle and bustle and noise.  The same chores, the same problems.  

“Well what did you expect?” Yamaguchi teased as they ate their lunches off-ship beside the water.  

The ship was barely in view from where they sat.  As much as Yamaguchi wanted to introduce Tsukishima to his crewmates and his usual lunch buddies, there was a more immediate need for some privacy and catching up.  

“I don’t know,” Tsukishima shrugged.  “More maniacal cackling over hoards of stolen treasures?” 

“Most of what we take are food and supplies.  Anything extra gets passed on pretty quickly.  Unless there’s a nice  _ haori _ the captain takes a fancy to or a particularly nice sword for Iwaizumi-san.”  

“Yeah, and what’s your vice?” Despite the teasing tone, Tsukishima was genuinely curious about the answer.  

“...potatoes,” Yamaguchi answered sheepishly.  

When Tsukishima gave him an utterly baffled look, Yamaguchi quickly added, “Not like the potatoes you know!  There was a Dutch trading ship once that had these yellow-skinned ones from somewhere, and… they’re not as sweet but they’re really good—Tsukkiiii!!”

He punched the blond lightly on the arm to discourage the laughter but that only exacerbated it.  

“Oh whatever,” Yamaguchi huffed.  “I bet you still have an insufferable sweet tooth.”

“One which I could always count on your mom indulging,” Tsukishima smirked, regretting that decision half a second later.

He’d failed to remember that both of Yamaguchi’s parents were now dead and that perhaps he didn’t want to be reminded of them.  Coughing nervously, Tsukishima pushed his hands into his pockets and felt the necklace brush against his fingers, providing a change of topic.  Pulling it out, he looked at it again for a long moment before holding it out for Yamaguchi to take back.  

“I’m amazed you kept this.  And that you kept wearing it.” 

“Well I could say the same about you, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi smiled, his eyes falling on his friend’s hand where the old shield ring sat on his pinky—now too small to fit on any other finger.  It had been originally crafted for a child’s hand, after all.  “Wearing yours for this long is more impressive since that ring barely fits you now.”  

“I got so used to wearing it, it feels weird to take it off now,” Tsukishima flexed his fingers, testing the fit.  “That and… it reminds me of you.” 

Yamaguchi laughed into the breeze, and it rang bittersweet.  “I cried sooo much the day we left!  You didn’t though; you were always so cool and calm.  I thought, Tsukki will be fine without me.  He’s smart and clever and—”

“I wasn’t,” Tsukishima interrupted.  “I wasn’t fine; I was never the same again after you left.  I… I may not have cried, but I  _ broke. _ ” 

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi sat straight up then and tentatively reached out a trembling hand to Tsukishima’s cheek.  “Tsukki… don’t cry.”

Tsukishima flinched, not from Yamaguchi’s touch, but because he hadn’t realized the tears that had escaped from his traitorous eyes.  All these years he’d retreated into himself and had never managed to say what he was ever feeling, hoping he’d eventually go numb and it would all fade away, the good and the bad.  He’d very nearly succeeded by the time he’d reached adulthood, but the truth was,

“Yamaguchi, I missed you so much,” he gasped, wiping at his face and pulling off his glasses.  

“Me too, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispered as he scooted closer, pulling Tsukishima’s hands gently out of the way so that he could be the one to brush the tears from his cheek.  “Tsukki, I missed you so much sometimes I thought I’d go mad.  Some nights, I couldn’t even look at the moon, it reminded me too much of losing you; other nights, it was the only thing that kept me going.” 

The moon.  Tsukishima let out a strangled chuckle.  For him, there had been so little that failed to remind him of Yamaguchi.  Mountains in the distance that shared his name, stars in the night sky in the pattern of his freckles, the puppies next door that he’d have loved, and every place around town where they’d laughed and played.  

Eight years of repressed emotions were overwhelming him now, and with the floodgates already open, his walls and filters couldn’t stop him from closing the distance between them and kissing his friend.  A chaste kiss, but lingering, just long enough to really feel Yamaguchi’s warmth before he pulled away in abject horror and attempted to flee.

“Tsukkiiii!!!!”

Yamaguchi tackled him down to prevent his escape, his face flushed and eyes wide, the pink beneath his freckles adding a boyish color back to that now ruggedly-handsome face.  Tsukishima’s currently unfettered brain suddenly wanted to kiss every freckle.  

“You can’t tell me how much you missed me and then leave!”

“But—”

But then Yamaguchi was returning his kiss, and all of his protests vanished into air, gone in the heated exhale after their lips parted for a second time.  

“Tsukki—”

Another kiss, now that Tsukishima had been reassured, bolder now, as he sucked on Yamaguchi’s lower lip and wrapped his arms around his neck.  His long fingers tousled Yamaguchi’s coarse black hair, and when Yamaguchi’s strong hands found his waist and gripped him tight, he moaned a little.

“Not so cool and calm now,” Yamaguchi teased, trailing kisses along Tsukishima’s jaw.  

“...shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki!” 

He winked and pecked Tsukishima’s nose apologetically.  Then each cheek, then back to the lips, now pink and a little swollen and certainly eager for more.  

For Tsukishima’s part, kissing Yamaguchi felt oddly natural, and  _ good _ , given that he’d never kissed anyone before.  Knowing him, it was quite possible that no one else could possibly compare.  Even if he had kissed someone before this moment, it would’ve been entirely forgettable now that he had Yamaguchi back.  And now after this, he was sure he’d never be able to kiss anyone else ever for the rest of his life.  

Yamaguchi’s hands pulled open the fabric of his _ jinbei _ , exposing his pale shoulders to the sun as he kissed along his collarbone.  Tsukishima sighed happily, letting his head roll back.  Through half-lidded eyes, he saw Yamaguchi’s ship in the distance, and it seemed to him to be a dreadful sea spectre threatening to pull them apart.

“Yama...guchi…” he whispered.

Yamaguchi took this to mean Tsukishima’s lips were feeling neglected, so he pulled away from his shoulders to press their mouths back together, lips and tongue and nibbling teeth.

It was dizzying, but Tsukishima pressed his hands lightly against Yamaguchi’s chest, managing to push him off a little.  

“Run away with me Yamaguchi,” he murmured into Yamaguchi’s lips.  “Let’s go somewhere, anywhere, just the two of us.”  

The hands left his waist and the warmth against his chest pulled away suddenly, leaving Tsukishima grasping at air.  His friend turned away, facing his eyepatched side to him.  Even without being able to see his expression, his posture said it all.  Tsukishima went cold.  

“Tsukki, I can’t.  They’re my crew.  My family.”

Tsukishima heard the horrible popping in his head again—it was just like that horrible day all those years ago.  No, worse.  Because Yamaguchi wasn’t being taken away, he was leaving.  

“Go, Tsukki.  You don’t belong here.”  

Without another word, Tsukishima ran off—away from his captivity, away from Yamaguchi, and away from his every happiness.

 

* * *

 

  
  


Several shouts and gasps and one solid punch later, Yamaguchi sat crumpled on the floor nursing a fast-bruising cheek.  Captain Oikawa stood over him, glaring as he rubbed at his own knuckles.  

“You let him go,” he repeated, hissing out the words.  “I told you that wasn’t your decision to make, and now you’ve endangered all of us.  Yamaguchi, what were you thinking?!” 

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi grabbed the captain’s arm, holding him steady to prevent another blow.  “We need to leave.  The scouts reported more Hosokawa reinforcements arriving and now with this… we can’t raid that incoming trading convoy.”  

“We have to!” Oikawa snapped.  “We’re low on supplies, food, money—”

“We could sail to Iki,” Kenma suggested quietly.  It was, after all, a pirate’s haven.  

“We didn’t leave Iki on the best of terms last time we left,” Kuroo reminded him.  “The Captain still owes an apology to Lai Zuyi—” 

“Iwa-chan, I want you to send a message to our friends on Genkai Island,” Oikawa spurred on, ignoring all comments and suggestions from the gallery.  “If they’re not all off somewhere currently, then that’s maybe three to five more ships to add to our own.  They’re not the only ones with friends to call on.” 

“A full-on naval battle?” Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow.  

“Well I’m not running off with my tail between my legs.”  Met with uneasy silence, Oikawa clapped his hands.  “Get a move on, all of you!  Everyone has a job to do, get to it!” 

Yamaguchi slowly pulled himself to his feet to join the others, but before he could leave, the captain grabbed him roughly by the arm with a quiet warning.  “I expect you to pull double your weight after this, Yamaguchi.  And no matter how this turns out, I want you to remember how you’ve broken the trust shared between you and me and this crew.”  

 

* * *

  
  


Despite getting lost a few times on his way back to the port, Tsukishima managed to find his way back to the crew with minimal fuss, with only his roommates wondering where he’d been the night before.  

“We checked in with Tendou-san since we were gonna go looking for you, but he just assumed you’d be in the red light district and told us not to bother,” Hinata was pouting. 

He was less upset with the fact that Tsukishima had spent the night gallivanting and more with the crates and crates of new gunpowder, and rocket cannons.  They were partitioned equally and loaded onto each ship, with Hinata and Kageyama stuck hauling on their own for causing trouble, and Tsukishima made to join them for his morning truancy.  Tsukishima shared his melancholy about the firearms, but for entirely different reasons.  The devastating destructive power at their disposal was equal parts humbling and empowering, but above all,  _ terrifying _ .  

“Swords are definitely cooler,” Hinata grumbled as he tested the weight of a  _ teppou _ , a small handheld cannon, in his palm.  “Easier to use too…”

“Yeah…” Kageyama agreed, clearly also gloomy about this new development but marginally better at hiding it.  

“Don’t be so glum, boys!” Tendou burst in suddenly, startling all of them into dropping the boxes and weapons currently in their hands.  He cackled as Hinata dropped his _ teppou _ right onto Kageyama’s foot, making him crumple over like a rag doll in pain.  

“You need to wear a bell,” Tsukishima quipped, trying to calm his own surprise.  He really hated being snuck up on.

“And take away half my fun?” Tendou sneered.  “Anyway, while you were off paying for the affections of women you can’t woo, we’ve gotten some information from around town about a little hideaway nearby where our little pirate friends are probably skulking.”  

Tsukishima’s blood ran cold.  

“A little island called Genkai.  And once all the captains can agree on a plan of attack, that’s where we’re headed.  So enjoy these last few days of shore leave, boys!”

With a dramatic flourish of his arms, Tendou was gone again, leaving behind a ringing echo of his unpleasant visit.  Tsukishima would never understand how Captain Ushijima came to choose Tendou Satori for his first mate, but their opposite dynamic was not unlike other partnerships he’d seen.    

“I guess after we storm Genkai that’ll be the end of the pirates there and the people around here will thank us and we’ll be heroes!”  Hinata jumped excitedly in place, Kageyama still nursing his foot beside him.  

Tsukishima scoffed.  “Yeah, right.”

“Are you _ scared  _ of another battle, Tsukishima-kun?” Hinata taunted before ducking behind Kageyama as the tall blond shot him a look so sharp it could probably behead him in one clean stroke.  

“What’s so great about being a samurai anyway?” Tsukishima snapped.  “Why do you care so much about being some sword-fighting hero?”  He took a menacing step toward the other two, bringing his full height to bear.   

“Back off, Tsukishima,” Kageyama stood suddenly, shifting his weight to shield Hinata completely.

“Natsu!” Hinata shouted, grabbing Kageyama’s sleeve to hold him back from doing anything stupid.  “That’s my little sister’s name.”

“Hinata, you don’t owe him—”

But Hinata ignored Kageyama’s protests.  “Bandits raided our mountain village when we were little.  They killed our parents and burned down our home.  I carried Natsu on my back as far down the mountain as I could.  She was crying, we were hungry and lost… I was about to give up when a patrol of the  _ daimyo _ ’s samurai found us.  They gave us food and water and took us to another town nearby.  And they asked around until they found this old woman running an inn who agreed to take us in.”  

Kageyama gently grabbed Hinata’s shoulders.  “It’s okay, Hinata.  You don’t have to say anymore.”  It was an oddly soft voice for someone with basically a permanent frown on his face.  

“I’ve always thought of samurai as superheroes; they help people and they save lives!  That’s why I—”

“That’s too simple!” Tsukishima could scarce believe his own frustration.  “Not all samurai are good and upstanding like that; the world isn’t that black and white—”

“So what if it’s simple?!” Hinata stood as tall as he could manage, shoulders squared.  “I’m simple!  And people do things for simple reasons!  But you asked, and it’s my choice, and it’s what I want to do to protect Natsu!” 

“Why do you even care, Tsukishima?” Kageyama growled.  “Just because you’ve never really wanted anything in your entire life…”

Except that wasn’t true.  If pressed, what Tsukishima wanted was exactly as simple as Hinata’s own goal—he wanted to be with Yamaguchi.  And if he could just stop overthinking everything, then it was obvious what he needed to do.  

“Stupid…” he mumbled.

“You know what, Tsukishima—” Kageyama had reached the end of his extremely limited patience.  

“Not you,” Tsukishima clarified before he reconsidered.  “Correction: you are stupid, both of you.  I just wasn’t talking about you just now.”  

The other two exchanged a confused look between them and for the briefest of moments, Tsukishima thought to himself that he might, maybe, one day in the far-flung future, find himself ever-so-sliiiiightly missing them.  

“I realize this might be impossible since it’s the idiot duo I’m talking to, but if you could just avoid doing anything stupid that gets you killed…”

“Tsukishima?” Hinata looked at him curiously; he couldn’t quite place the tone of their conversation anymore.  

“Don’t come looking for me,” Tsukishima cut him off and turned to leave, looking back over his shoulder at them just once.  Then he was gone.

 

* * *

 

  
  


Whether by dumb luck or a brilliant twist of fate, Tsukishima managed to make it back to Yamaguchi’s ship just as they were about to raise anchor and set sail.  And after another very fortuitous exchange in which he managed to convince the Captain to  _ not _ just shoot him dead on the shore, he was allowed on-board on the strict condition that Kuroo and Kenma be his guards and that he let them bind his hands.  Yamaguchi was nowhere to be seen on-deck, and he’d no chance to look as he was led straight to the captain’s quarters the second his feet hit the deck.  

“So are you the vanguard?” Oikawa took his place behind a low central table, maps and sea-charts scattered across it. 

Tsukishima frowned at the vindictive tone in that accusation.  “I get it.  You don’t trust me; the feeling’s mutual.  Where’s Yamaguchi?” 

The captain slammed his hands down hard though he kept his voice even.  “You don’t get to make demands on my ship.  Now tell me what I’m supposed to expect on your side.  How many ships, how many men?”

“You can’t fight them,” Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and sighed.  “They outnumber you—”

“How many ships?”

“...seven,” Tsukishima bit his lip.  “But it’ll be suicide if you engage Ushijima in the open sea.”

“Ushijima,” Oikawa repeated with a scoff.  “Is that your captain?  We have allied ships of our own to call on, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about—”

“They know about Genkai Island.  If that’s where your allies are coming from, you’ll be sailing into a trap.  It’s not just numbers, they have cannons and gunpowder.  They’ll blow this ship apart before you could ever get close.  The best thing you can do is run.  Sail fast and far; take your crew and get out of here.”

A long silence lingered between them as they processed the information given.  Backing down wasn’t a strong suit for anyone in that room, but eventually, Oikawa’s second-in-command spoke up.  “Oikawa, we can’t fight against that kind of firepower.  None of us can.”

A vein twitched in the captain’s brow, but there was resignation in his eyes.  “No.  You’re right, none of us can.  Iwa-chan, Kenma, set course for Genkai.  We have to get the others out of there.”

“You’d risk the whole crew just to send a message?” Tsukishima cut in.  “Why not just send—”

“I called them to gather,” Oikawa said firmly.  “And whether we head into a fight or raise sails to safety, it’s my responsibility to lead them through it.  There’s honor even among thieves, spectacles.  Now get out of my sight.”

“Where’s Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima demanded a second time, pulling out of Kuroo’s grip.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, he’s been skulking down in the kitchen ever since your little spat.  Calm down.”

All around him, the men chortled and laughed at the blond’s confusion.  All the tension and hostility was gone in an instant, and Tsukishima slowly realized that he felt…  _ pranked _ .  

“What, did you think we’d throw him overboard or chain him up with the cargo?” Kuroo sneered as he redirected him out of the captain’s quarters and back outside onto the deck.  

“You’ll see him later,” Kenma at least had the decency to try and hide his own amusement somewhat.  

“Now that you’re signing up to be one of us, you can see him whenever you like.”  Kuroo put his hands on Tsukishima’s shoulder, only to be curtly shaken off.  

“I’m not one of you,” Tsukishima scowled.  “I’m just trying to save Yamaguchi.”  

“Well if you want to stick around so that you can keep saving Yamaguchi, that means you’ll be part of a pirate crew,” Kenma pointed out.  “Doesn’t really matter how you feel about it, that pretty much makes you a pirate by definition.”

“Why are you so certain I’ll stay after all this?” 

“Well they’ll kill you if you go back,” Kuroo shrugged.  “For deserting and giving vital information to the enemy, they’ll politely recommend that you fall on your sword for duty’s sake before someone takes your head.  I know some samurai are really into that I guess, but I didn’t peg you as one of them.”

It’s true, Tsukishima didn’t have a samurai’s honor and extreme sense of duty… and yes, maybe he’d silently decided to throw caution to the wind to be with Yamaguchi... but it felt far too premature to call himself a pirate already.

“Besides,” Kenma added with the smallest upturn of his lips.  “We’ve seen how you look at Yamaguchi.”

 

* * *

  
  


The closer they sailed towards Genkai, the harder it was to believe that there could be five pirate ships lurking somewhere in those waters.  The shoreline that faced the main island of Japan was all rocky, jagged cliffs inhospitable for ships, and the island itself was a small lump of earth—not a permanent waystation by any measure.  

As they circled around the perimeter, a falcon cried out as it soared above them—a lookout warning to the other ships tucked into a hidden coastline with a beach so small and narrow it could maybe fit men from two crews but no more.

The captain instructed for the others to hang back in deeper waters and to not drop anchor.  He would sail for the shore with Iwaizumi on one of the small lifeboats to parley with the other captains.  

“If you come under fire while I’m still on that beach—” Oikawa began.

“Understood,” Kuroo nodded his head firmly.  “We’ll go on without you.”

“What?!  No, you come and rescue me!  A ship is nothing without her captain!”

“Backwards,” Kenma corrected.  “The phrase is, ‘a captain is nothing without his ship.’”

“Smartasses,” Oikawa grumbled as they lowered the small boat into the water.

Tsukishima had watched their exchange with mild interest.  He couldn’t quite figure out if the crew had actually agreed on a set course of action with that banter—chain of command was difficult to pin down—but they all seemed confident enough in themselves despite the situation that loomed over their heads.  Then again, he supposed no one signed up to be a pirate without being aware of the dangers.  

“That beach is a death trap,” Tsukishima pointed out as he watched the little boat row closer and closer to it.  

“Genkai isn’t safe harbor, it’s a temporary hiding spot,” Kenma replied.  “It’s clear skies today, but in foggy conditions, plenty of ships wreck themselves on these cliffs or beach themselves on the rocky shallows.” 

“Kenma knows these waters like the back of his hand,” Kuroo piped in, patting his partner’s head with the tone of a proud parent.  “His memory is incredible, all he needs is to go somewhere once and then the map is there in his brain.”

Tsukishima must have made a face because Kenma noticed—in the odd way that the man seemed to notice everything—and said, “Kuro, he doesn’t care.  He wants to hear about Yamaguchi, not us.”

“Riiiight…” Kuroo grinned.  “But I want to know more about ‘Tsukki’ actually.  You know, in the five years Yamaguchi’s been with us, he’s never once mentioned anything about you.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“But Yamaguchi calls you that.”

“That’s different,” Tsukishima grumbled.

Kuroo opened his mouth no doubt to throw in another snide comment or light provocation, but another keen falcon’s cry cut him off, and the entire deck grew suddenly tense as they looked toward the edge of the cliffs.  The captain’s meeting on the beach scattered a moment later as they all hurried off-land to make it back to their vessels—the ships nearest to the shore raised anchor and prepped to open their sails.  For several tense minutes, all sailors on all ships braced themselves, holding their breaths.  

Finally, the prow of a ship sailed into view around the cliffside, waving the Hosokawa clan emblem.  Immediately, the bells rang aboard every vessel for battle stations.  From the leading Hosokawa ship, there came a crackle of sparks followed by a high, thin whistle as a rocket cannon arced through the air, exploding into the sea beside the closest rebel ship.  

“That was a warning shot,” Tsukishima noted as he was pulled from the edge of the deck toward the helm, where Kuroo and Kenma needed to be.  

He stumbled as the crew rushed past all around them; he didn’t appreciate having his hands still tied in these conditions.  

Several more men appeared from below deck to take their stations, and in the water below, the captain was minutes to reaching them—minutes they didn’t have.  

“Tsukki?!” a voice cried out in the chaos.  “What are you doing here?!  No one told me—”

“Not now, Yamaguchi!” Kuroo shouted as he shoved past them.  He pulled out his dagger and with a sharp flick of his wrist, he cut loose Tsukishima’s bonds.  “Make yourself useful, will you?”

Another whistling cannon crashed into the sea, their aim now dangerously close to their own ship.   

“What’s the range on those things?!” Yamaguchi asked, eyes wide.

“Let’s not stay close enough to find out,” Kuroo waved a hand to the men poised ready atop the masts.  “Lower sails!  Let’s move!”

Yamaguchi squinted at the sight of Kuroo giving commands.  “Where’s the captain?”

“Paddling as fast as he can,” Tsukishima pointed to the water below, where the small lifeboat was mere meters away, Iwaizumi rowing faster than he’d thought humanly possible.  But if the wind caught in their sails, they’d have to row considerably faster to catch up.  

“I need my weapons—” Yamaguchi started as Tsukishima grabbed his arm.

“You won’t need your spear; we’re running, not fighting, and they have—” 

They ducked as they heard a cannon strike one of the other vessels, an explosion of splintering wood accompanied by a chorus of panicked screams.  The shock of it seemed to ripple through them all even though they hadn’t been hit directly.  But as long as the mast was intact, they could still… Tsukishima’s eyes suddenly flew to the black, tarred riggings on their own ship, and an idea stirred in his brain.

“Yamaguchi!  Tell everyone to grab bows and arrows and tar.” 

Yamaguchi understood the idea but couldn’t see its efficacy.  “Tsukki, a dozen flaming arrows won’t do much compared to rocket cannons.”

“They will when the aft of every vessel is stocked with crates of gunpowder.”  After all, he’d helped load them.  

Yamaguchi’s eyes lit up, and it didn’t take even another second before he took off, grabbing random crew members to help him, Tsukishima hot on his heels.  He clicked his tongue in  annoyance as he ran; he should’ve thought of such a plan sooner, should’ve had them prepped before they ever set sail for Genkai.  

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi wrenched him out of his self-scolding.  “Can you shoot?” 

He shook his head uselessly, about to apologize when Yamaguchi said, “Then go tell Kuroo-san what we’re doing and help the captain get back on-board.  Go!” 

In all the years of their childhood together, Tsukishima could not recall a moment where Yamaguchi had  _ ever  _ given him orders.  As astonishing as it was, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride really.  But now was not the time to be swooning, he’d been given a job to do. 

After a hurried explanation to Kuroo, he and Kenma rushed to the starboard side of the ship to fling down ropes for Oikawa and Iwaizumi—no time to reel up the boat with them.  Above their heads, the sails were full and open, but they needed to get out from between the cliffs before the wind could catch.  

The horrible sound of the cannons felt like the sky shrieking into their ears, but the truth was that their aim was poor.  Most of them fizzled into the sea or struck sides of ships instead of their decks or their sail-masts.  Tsukishima had feared the results would be much worse than they were turning out to be given their painfully slow retreat.  If they did inevitably sink in a burning blaze of glory, at least the ship had her captain back.

When Yamaguchi at last stood at the ready with a host of men to fling fiery arrows at the enemy, Tsukishima advised him to strike the most central ship in their formation, rather than the foremost.  

“Is that the ship Ushijima is on?” Oikawa asked with a curled lip.  He’d somehow developed a rather strong sense of rivalry and/or enmity for the man despite having never met him.  

“Yes,” Tsukishima lied, and with that deception, he considered his debt to Hinata repaid.  

“Fire!”

A dozen arrows launched, some striking soldiers, some striking sails.  After two more volleys and a nail-biting series of minutes, a massive explosion destroyed the aft of the middle ship, shattering their formation and sending residual flames onto the ships that had been directly adjacent.  Ushijima’s ship at the head of the group remained mostly intact, but they could no longer give chase.

Cheers went up all around on their ship as well as their allies’ and, as if to help them celebrate, the wind then blew in graciously to aid their escape, carrying them swiftly out of range and out of danger.  

  
  


Their course was set for Iki Island, the captain grumbling all the while but preparing himself to grovel if it meant safe shores for his crew.  

Tsukishima sat with Yamaguchi at the prow of the ship, enjoying the feel of the sea wind on his face.  For a quiet moment, it was the picture perfect fulfillment of the promise they’d made, the two of them free to sail the open seas together without a care in the world.  Once upon a time, Yamaguchi had asked Tsukishima to see the world with him, and he’d agreed, saying he’d go wherever Yamaguchi would go.  So much for sailing the world now, perhaps, but given the chance to follow Yamaguchi, Tsukishima didn’t care where they went.  

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi started quietly as he gently brushed their hands together.  “Thank you.”

Tsukishima laced their fingers together without hesitation.  “Don’t thank me, I didn’t do much—”

“Not for today.  I mean… thank you for not forgetting me.” 

As if he could ever forget Yamaguchi, his one, his truest friend.  As if he could have ever stopped his longing in the years they’d been kept apart… He’d been so pathetic and useless without Yamaguchi around, and now that they’d been reunited, he couldn’t put into words how whole he felt.  So instead, he squeezed the hand in his as tight as he could, feeling how it pressed his ring into his skin and scooted closer.

He’d start his new life as a pirate with his greatest treasure already found.    

**Author's Note:**

> Commissioned by Kuckoonut
> 
> \--
> 
> Truthfully, the original setting of this pirate AU was meant to be in a pirates of the caribbean setting when Kuckoo first requested this commission, with Yamaguchi a swashbuckler and Tsukki a member of the British Royal Navy. But I always find it really jarring and odd when a cast of a dozen Japanese characters are placed in an extremely Western setting. But she was very open-minded to my transplanting their story to the Pacific instead since all of the main themes were kept. And hopefully, this makes this particular fic feel a bit more fresh when compared to the many other Pirate AUs.
> 
> The time period of this story is set in the Muromachi period (mid-1400’s) near the end of the Ashikaga Shogunate and shortly before the Onin War. The term for a Japanese pirate is wokou or wakou, and the majority of their raids took place along the Korean and Chinese shores. The majority of pirates in this particular time period are actually non-Japanese, mostly Chinese. 
> 
> The reason I picked this particular time period and setting to place them is that piracy in Japan takes a sharp decline after the early 1400’s. Placing them in a later time period would’ve made pirates an extreme irregularity as opposed to still being commonplace, and the vast majority in later centuries were Chinese pirates. Similarly, Japanese feudal lords undertook more ambitious naval building efforts in the 16th century, so placing them in an earlier time period would’ve given the pirates no Japanese forces to fight against. 
> 
> As mentioned in the story, Japan in this time period has no centralized government navy as the country functioned mostly under feudal lords who ruled separate areas of Japan and ultimately unification of the country wasn’t reached until the 1600’s with the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Even then, the feudal system remained.
> 
> Seated in the Korean Strait between Korea and Japan, are two islands (Tsushima and Iki) that served as known pirate camps and bases of operation. 
> 
> To place the boys near hotbeds of pirate activity as well as nearer to ports dealing with foreign trade, I had to move them from their home in Miyagi prefecture in northeast Japan to areas further southwest, in the Kyushu & Chugoku regions. 
> 
> The (very) old tradition of dressing young boys as girls was due to infant mortality rates being higher in male infants than in female ones. Female infants were thus perceived as stronger and healthier and young boys were dressed as girls as a means of promoting good health. This is why Yamaguchi is described as wearing girls’ clothes as a younger child. 
> 
> Despite extensive historical research, I took some liberties where I needed so that I could still include certain character details and quirks.
> 
> When Yamaguchi mentions enjoying potatoes as a foreign food item, it’s in fact 100+ years too early. The first potatoes were brought to Japan in the late 1500’s and were first used as decorative plants before being cultivated as crops in the 1700’s. Obviously Yamaguchi couldn’t have soggy french fries available, but I at least wanted to give him potatoes. 
> 
> It’s also about 100 years too early for Tsukishima to have corrective vision, and those early models for glasses would definitely have been extra dorky looking, but Tsukki without his glasses didn’t feel quite right. 
> 
> Ultimately, I know very little about sailing and life aboard a boat, and detailed sources don’t appear until later in history, so I definitely just made up and borrowed a lot of detail from modern seafaring for those scenes… but nobody’s really reading for the ships.
> 
>  
> 
> Vocabulary
> 
> Jinbei - Traditional Japanese clothing worn by all genders and ages; mostly for summer wear in the modern day. Jinbei sets usually consist of a top and matching shorts. Most sailors in this time period actually wore loincloths when sailing, but I had trouble detailing that with a straight face.  
> Haori - Traditional kimono-style jacket that is worn open over the clothes. They can be made rather elaborately, and there are even sleeveless variations to be worn over armor.  
> Wakizashi - A short sword with a blade between 30 and 60cm. Lengthwise, it’s between a dagger and a full-length katana, and Tsukishima in the story is joking that at Hinata’s height, he wouldn’t be able to fight with an actual full-length katana, suggesting the wakizashi instead.  
> Daimyo - The daimyō were powerful Japanese feudal lords who, until their decline in the early Meiji period, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate only to the Shōgun, daimyōs were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan.
> 
> \--
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! You can find me on other sites at
> 
> Twitter: @Luna_Dreaming  
> Tumblr: nimbus-cloud.tumblr.com


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